After many hours spent running around Whiteface, Ian and I have finally decided on a course for the SkyMarathon on June 28th. It consists of a "mountain loop" on the ski trails, followed by a "flume loop" on the cross country mountain bike trails, and then finishes with another lap of the mountain loop. The course covers 19.3 miles with 9,500 feet of climbing, and should take over four hours for the winner (and much more for most runners). I ran both loops last week. Here’s a description of the course from my point of view. Note that time estimates are for a finish of around 4:30, which I expect to be a very fast time on this course. Adjust according to your expectations.

Start / mountain loop: From the base of Whiteface (1220’ elevation) you look directly up the mountain at the lower ski slopes. At the start you immediately begin climbing the Fox ski trail. You’re hiking within 30 seconds, despite the fact that it’s only an easy ski run. The footing is good, but consistently uphill, on grassy slopes. The grade eases for a moment and you might run again, before you’re back to hiking up the steeper intermediate trail Lower Valley. Passing the mid-station lodge about 1/4 of the way up the first climb (13 min), you pick up the slightly more runnable service road that you’ll mostly follow to the top of the summit chairlift, at almost 4400’. At times the gravel /dirt road is gentle enough that you can run, but you will keep it to a hike for the most part, trying to save your legs for the many thousands of feet of climbing and descending ahead. The service road starts on an easy slope (Easy Street) before tackling the winding intermediate trail Excelsior that takes you nearly to the top of Little Whiteface. Leaving Excelsior at about 3/4 of the way up the climb (37 min), the course follows a direct line up Paron’s Run and then rejoins the service road on The Follies, before hitting the final ridge to the top of the summit lift. You’ve just climbed over 3100 feet in 2.7 miles (53 min). Restock on fuel and liquids at the aid station here, as the mountain loop is only about half complete at this point.

You’ll retrace your steps down the ridge for a couple hundred feet before branching off down the steeper slope of Paron’s, and then turning left onto the expert trail Cloudspin and positively plummeting downhill. The Cloudspin section is only about four tenths of a mile, but you’ll lose 800 feet of elevation! If the 40% grade isn’t enough to keep you honest, the rough footing and need to look ahead and pick your line will certainly keep your speed down and make you work for every step. After this steepest section of the race the course takes a left to cut over to another expert trail, Skyward, avoiding a cliff at the bottom of Cloudspin. The running here is a little more manageable, but still unrelentingly steep and punishing. The grassy slopes of Victoria will seem like a relief, as you open up into more of a run as opposed to the controlled fall of the decent thus far.

After Victoria flattens out and you’ve completed the first big descent (1700 feet over 1.1 miles, about 13 min) you’ll cross your ascent line from earlier and climb again, this time on the intermediate trail Lower Northway. A new service road with loose stones will make for trickier footing than the first climb, but the grade is gentle enough to allow for some running before the course branches again onto Essex, another expert trail. With grades of 40% this is a very steep hike, but short, and it tops out on a final ridge run to the summit of Lower Whiteface, where a water stop and breathtaking views of Lake Placid await. This second climb is big but nothing like the first, totaling 1000 feet in 0.7 miles, and taking about 17 min.

The mountain loop is far from over: you still need to descend back to the start, a 2400’ drop in 1.8 miles. It takes me 17 min to bomb down these trails, which are mostly grassy with good footing. The initial descent, on Approach, offers some of the gentlest downhill on the course, before it reaches the top of the Mountain Run chairlift and plunges down the expert trail Upper Parkway. Lower Parkway relents a little and allows for some smoother running, and then you pop out on Lower Valley and Fox, quickly retracing your steps back to the start and the large aid station there. The first mountain loop is over, and you’ve gained and lost 4130 feet over 6.3 miles. This loop takes me about 1 hr 40 min at race pace. I expect the average mountain loop split will be closer to 2:30 or 2:45, with some racers taking as long as 3:45 on their way to a 10hr finish time (the cutoff).

My next post will describe the much gentler flume loop, which you will do once following the first mountain loop. And then, of course, you have to come back for another mountain loop!